Just a midwestern wife, making a way in the world the only way I know how, and sharing with others who might be interested in the way I do things. Hoping to make life a little easier and more fulfilling!

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Saturday, March 3, 2012

Balsamic Chicken with Polenta/Tomatoes

Well, I feel like I should live up to the title of my blog and post something related to cooking or knitting!!! Here is one of the latest dishes I have tried! I often find recipes on the internet and then change them to the way I would prefer it haha So, here is one of my favorites...although this one is from my own imagination. My fiance loooves it!! Although, he was at first skeptical to try polenta. I call it balsamic glazed chicken with polenta and tomatoes.

My photography skills are not up to par, so this is probably much better tasting than it looks :)

Chicken:

1 chicken breast

3 T balsamic vinegar

basil to taste

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Polenta/Tomatoes:

1 24 oz. roll of polenta

balsamic (I drizzle it over the polenta so no exact measure)

2 medium tomatoes

8 oz. mozzarella cheese

sprinkle of dried basil

sprinkle of salt

So, start by marinating the chicken breast for 30 minutes in balsamic vinegar. I use a glass baking dish and cover it in foil so I can just pop it in the oven later. ( If you are a vegetarian like me you can use q'uorn substitute which I have found to be my favorite and cooks very similarly to chicken)

While the chicken marinates, cut the polenta into 14-16 pieces ( I use the whole roll) and lay in a 9x13 glass baking dish. Then drizzle the balsamic vinegar over the the polenta, I just do a quick drizzle and don't measure. So, just do it to your liking. Then I slice the tomatoes and lay them on the polenta and sprinkle the whole thing generously with mozzarella cheese. You can, of course, choose how much cheese you would like. Then cover the polenta dish with foil. Place both the chicken and polenta in over for about 30 minutes at 350. I always put the chicken on the bottom and if I notice the cheese on the polenta is getting too brown I pull it out first.

Then it is ready to go!! Serving with a side salad is also an excellent choice :)

Sometimes I don't have fake chicken and so I use other meat substitutes. In this example I used Veggie Patch brand meatballs which was also a great pairing!